Ask Jason@沃顿 (closed)

yezideeyes

Hi Jason, saw your willingness to help the applicants. Need your help on the following questions:

1. GMAT Score: 750/4.0  Is the AWA score a disadvantage for application? My working experience is not so strong, I don't want to be weak even in language.

2. Need I take Toefl test? BTW, I got master degree in Korea, in English.

Your reply will be highly appreciated!

cannedpineapple

Yvonne> I think if you follow-up with meeting the adcom member and write to him and say "it was nice to meet you", that's fine, and continues to show your interest in the school. I would shy away from a longer email, or from an email that occurs too long after a meeting, because 1) you can't add any content at this point that will make them substantially relook your application 2) what you can hope for (at best) is that they think, "yvonne's first choice is Wharton", but even this may be of limited use in their considerations at this point. Many others have gotten in off the waitlist without doing extra, so just sit tight.

yezideeyes> AWA is not a big factor, especially since your English skills are probably ok, given your degree was in English.

cannedpineapple

I think the graph on this website is very insightful and summarises very well how schools use various bits of information.

    

http://www.whiz dream.net/fdlc.asp (remove the space between whiz and dream, I'm not sure why this doesn't turn up, and I don't want to steal their intellectual property by pasting a picture that doesn't belong to me.)

    

You'll note that of the five things you submit (scores, resume, essays,
recommendation, interview), scores are the least important, and essays
the most. Perhaps in future one's "profile" should not be 'g/t/work
experience', but 'my leadership story will be about.. my failure story
will be about..'. =)

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-5-8 11:10:30编辑过]

cannedpineapple

I noticed that the time has come when companies start inviting new
admits to their pre-MBA events. Companies do this because 1) when
you're physically there you might as well visit 2) some schools, like
Wharton, don't allow companies to come on campus till about two months
after school starts. So these companies figure, I want to know students
as soon as possible, so let me start before MBA. What this means is,
remember when you sign up for these events, they are recruiting events,
so you should act like you would at an MBA recruiting event. What does
it mean to be attending an MBA recruiting event? Most people don't
really know (apart from that they should wear a suit), since they
haven't attended an MBA programme yet. That's why Wharton recommends
that you DON'T attend these events until you have come to campus to
learn what to do. Unfortunately these events could hurt you as much as
they help you.

    

Nonetheless, here's a bit of info and my personal take on what you need
to consider, if you decide to go ahead and meet recruiters before your
school has a chance to prepare you.

    

    First of all, make sure you revamp your resume
because that is probably the most important thing to take note of, if
the company is asking for one. You need to tailor
it to the industry for which you are attending the event; also make
sure every point is 1) quantified 2) tells of a
situation and your impact. Finally, make sure that you don't get a
whole bunch of points telling the same trait (Yes, a large part of
writing resumes is removing 'impressive' points because they are just
repeating, for the 5th time, that you're a good leader!) Consulting,
for instance,
looks out for traits like leadership, quantitative and analytical
ability, skill at facing and dealing with clients, ability to manage
analysts, and a few others (searching online would probably turn up
more points). DON'T just submit the same resume that you submitted for
business school. This is important because 1) that resume was tailored
at
school, not consulting 2) firms will use this resume for their
recruiting. At
Wharton, for instance, resumes are only submitted in December to firms.
However,
before December, firms will come to campus and meet with students. If
they have your resume, they will use that to
decide whether to meet with you.

            

Next, when you are actually there, 1) don't be too aggressive and look
to 'impress' by asking questions that draw attention to you, etc. If
you do have questions go ahead and ask, but don't ask something
contrived like 'what is your company's stance on training leadership?'.
2)
again, don't be too aggressive and talk only to recruiters. Every
representative from that company is watching to see not only how you
react with them, but also
with others. There will probably be new admits at the event who were
former employees of that company too. They too can have a
lot of say in who gets interviewed, so don't forget to talk to them.
Aside from employees and former employees, also
spend the time to talk to fellow admits who are there with you.
Recruiters want to see that you're sociable and can fit in well with
any
social situation, whoever you're talking to.

            

As for what exactly to say,you'll need to develop a pitch, a 自我介绍 that
literally has you talking for 1-2 minutes about 1) your previous work
experience and how that shows that it has equipped you with the skills
needed to excel in that specific industry 2) how you became interested
in that industry. This is a lot more difficult than it sounds, so
practice a
lot before you go. Again, if you go and don't make an impression,
they'll note that down. If you make a bad impression, they'll note that
down too. So go prepared.

        

Good luck to everyone! Let me know if you have other questions.

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-5-8 2:32:28编辑过]

kittylyx

hey Jason, these are very nice suggestions! Thanks!

isabelgan

You r awsome... Jas

xxz5838

Jason:

The GPA range is 3.1-3.9.

Does that mean a 2.9 have much less change or shouldn't even apply?

Thanks

cannedpineapple

xxz5838> No, it doesn't mean you shouldn't even apply. The range being 3.1-3.9 refers to the middle 80%, meaning that 10% of students got GPAs below 3.1. There are certainly people who got into Wharton with GPAs even as low as 2.5.

xxz5838

Thanks, Jason.

Another question.

I have 720 on GMAT. Do you think I need to retake it (I will generate a distinguished essay regardless).

cannedpineapple

There is no right answer for this. At Wharton, we generally say that if you have >80 for both verbal and math, you're alright. However, some people with low GPAs use high GMAT scores to compensate to show their intellectual ability. So again, no right answer.

PS, the essay is in fact probably the most important part of the application, Go see that link I wrote about on Page 17 (the whiz dream one). From there you'll see what different metrics are usef for, with the essay being probably the most important. At the same time, however, in my mind it is probably the toughest to do really well. So really, you should be asking me, 'my leadership essay will be about this.. what do you think?'

In addition, the definition of a 'distinguished essay' might not even be clear. Unlike a school quiz, here they won't give grades (ie there's no such thing as an "A" essay or a "B" essay), instead they'll want to see what the essay shows about you. If you had submitted my essay, for instance, it would be very "undistinguished" because it is wholly irrelevant to who you are.